Category: Top News Stories

Keep up with what’s going on in Devine, Natalia, Lytle, Bigfoot and Moore areas in Medina, Frio, and Atascosa Counties.

Meet June Bug…
Overcoming obstacles, one step at a time

Told by doctors that she may never walk, 3-year-old June Huerta has conquered many challenges already in her young life.

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
Once told that she may never walk, 3-year-old June Huerta or “June Bug” as she’s known by friends and family, has overcome a lot of challenges in her young life. June Bug uses a walker to get around, and her sweet smile touches everyone in her path with joy.
“You may not know her by name, but you may know June as the little girl who introduced herself to you at H-E-B or Walmart by running over your feet with her red walker. That’s not the way we would have hoped that you met June, but if you know June’s story, you would know that introductions have been bumpy for her since her start in life,” said her mother Mrs. Cheyenne Huerta.
June was born premature at thirty-seven weeks, entering the world at four pounds eleven ounces. At birth, June’s heart was not fully developed and had four holes in it.
As alarming as her heart condition was, at four months, June’s pediatrician also diagnosed June with low muscle tone. Little June would be introduced to a wide array of medical specialists who would come alongside June and her family in this journey which no one could have anticipated.
“It is a medical condition that requires June to work three times harder than a non-affected child to meet her growth milestones. The delay in her progress was heartbreaking,” Cheyenne said, but with a good attitude she has exceeded so many expectations.
“I was heartbroken when June didn’t have the muscular development to sit on her own for her one year old photos,” said her mother Cheyenne. “But that devastation was tempered with joy that the holes in June’s heart had closed by her first birthday.”
Cheyenne and her husband, Nathan, are so grateful the numerous doctors and specialists who have joined them in June’s journey, particularly their cousin and physical therapist, Jessica Valle, who has worked with June for over three years. With the dedication of those like Jessica and more recently, Mrs. Davis from Devine ISD who is June’s teacher, June has made significant progress in her physical development.
June’s first steps came on February 1, a couple of months after her third birthday.
“June’s road has been anything but smooth, yet we have learned that sometimes, things don’t come on our own time,” Cheyenne said.”Her muscle tone was so weak that the doctors were unsure if she would ever walk on her own or even at all. She proved with hard work she is able to do anything her little heart desires,” she added.
“Never give up on hope and know that setbacks don’t always mean you have to give up on fun,” the Huertas add. “June has inspired us in so many ways. Those days when we feel like giving up, we just look over at June, seeing how far she has come. Realizing anything is possible with God and a lot of hard work,” Cheyenne said.
June’s great attitude has everything to do with it.
“June is always so happy. Our neighbors tell us they love seeing June in the morning because she’s so happy to see the school bus. She’s just such a loving little girl,” Cheyenne said. “My favorite part of the day is when her dad comes home and I hear June walking to greet him. It’s just pure joy.”
“June Bug,” as she’s known by her family, will soon be cheering with Texas Heat Cheer in Natalia. If you see June, come say “Hello!” She’d love to meet you!

Collavo, lone finalist for Natalia ISD Superintendent

Dr. Lana Collavo was named Lone Finalist in a unanimous vote.

On Tuesday, May 9, at a Special Board Meeting of the Natalia ISD Board of Trustees, Dr. Lana Collavo was named the Lone Finalist for Superintendent for the Natalia ISD (7-0 vote). Dr. Collavo earned her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M College Station, her master’s degree from Corpus Christi State University, and her doctorate from Texas A&M – Kingsville.
“I truly believe that Dr. Collavo was God sent,” Natalia ISD Board Vice President Tiffany Rodriguez said. “We are truly blessed to have her joining us to lead our awesome staff and students, and we have full faith in her abilities.”
She is an experienced educator, serving as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, program director, assistant superintendent for special education and special programs, and superintendent. She was superintendent for Jourdanton ISD for 11 years and has been an interim superintendent for Natalia ISD twice and for Kenedy ISD.
She states, “I am excited to be back in Natalia ISD and look forward to working with the Board, the staff, the students, and the community. I plan to continue the school community’s efforts to continually provide effective and innovative programming for the students of Natalia ISD.” Dr. Collavo is married with three grown children and six grandchildren.
By law, the Board must wait 21 days before they are able to offer her a contract. 
“I appreciate the feedback we received from our district administration which allowed this process to be very short and easy,” Natalia ISD Board President Eric Smith said. “Dr. Collavo is a team player, a calm and steady hand, and a true educational veteran who will lead by example and truly build a team where input and collaboration are allowed to help maximize our potential. I look forward to working as a team of 8 for our community, our staff, and most of all, our students.
Dr. Collavo and her husband plan to move to the Natalia ISD community, where she will be involved in the great things happening in our district and community.

Appraisal issues leave Devine ISD facing possible $2.5 million shortfall

By Anton Riecher
Uncertainty over final appraised property values might make it impossible for Devine ISD to meet its budgeted salary increases for teachers without additional funds from other sources, school district director of finance Shannon Ramirez told trustees Monday night.
She cited property value protests, ADA losses and provisions in state tax law as contributing to the expected shortage. The expected losses in tax collection and state funding is projected at $2.5 million
“To increase our salaries we need additional funds either by increasing ADA (appraisal district appraisals) or reducing staffing positions,” Ramirez said.
Trustees proposed referring the matter back to the individual campuses to identify possible budget cuts. Trustee Renee Frieda said she would expect strong recommendations in view of the situation.
“It would need to be zero based budgeting where you go in and say ‘I want you to revalidate every position you have and convince us’ or ‘I’ve identified these as improvements we have to have.’ If we are going to make this happen we need an X percent reduction and each campus needs to identify that reduction.’”
The report comes in the wake of the district’s failure to win approval for a $32.3 million bond issue earlier this month.
Ramirez reported that as of April 30, 2023 preliminary district property values show a 25 percent increase in certified value for Medina County. By contrast, neighboring Frio County showed only a nine percent increase from 2022 certified values.
Chief among the issues leaving appraised values in flux are property value protests by landowners, she said.
“We adopt our budget on preliminary values in June taking into account protests under review,” Ramirez said. “When we received certified values in August they were much lower than projected due to the number of protests approved.”
Reductions due to appraisal protests resulted in a $500,000 shortage in tax collection estimates. Add to this another $500,000 short fall expected due to appraised value loses, Ramirez said. Trustees based their 2022-2023 budget on a projected ADA of 1830.
However, as of May 5, six weeks ADA stood at only 1804.993.
A further loss of $1.5 million in state funding is forecast due to the provisions of Texas tax law. For the last three years the state comptroller’s office has ruled Medina County property values invalid based on their own property value studies.
The law provides that after three consecutive years of invalid values a school district must use the state’s values versus those arrived at by the county.
“This creates a loss of over $1.5 million in state aid,” Ramirez said.
As are many other Texas school districts, Devine ISD to appealing the state comptroller’s action. However, proceedings regarding the conflict are not expected to be resolved until August or later.
Devine and Natalia school districts are among approximately 25 percent of Texas districts in which the state comptroller has assigned values after ruling the county appraisals invalid.
Frieda said the two percent “step” increase adopted by the school district in keeping with Texas Education Agency proposals lags far behind the inflation rate of 8.3 percent reported in the United States in 2022.
Board president Nancy Pepper said the salaries increases lag behind those offered in neighboring counties.
“I just don’t like seeing us under surrounding districts,” she said.

Devine art students complete Devine’s largest mural 75 ft wide x 16 ft tall

DHS Art students completed this awesome mural on the side of the Devine VFW building. See story inside.

The mural is approximately 75 feet long and 16 feet tall. Last Wednesday May 10th, twenty two students worked for 8 hours to paint the mural on the side of the original Devine High School Auditorium, now home of the Devine VFW.
“DHS students in the Art 2 class worked together to design the mural based on the patriotic theme with the purpose to honor veterans,” said DHS art teacher Nicole Hamby. “It is the largest mural in Devine!”
“The mural isn’t quite finished. The plan is to add shading and silhouettes of Service Members on the right side of the mural,” Hamby said.
The final design will be a waving USA flag with silhouettes of nopales cactus to represent Devine.

DHS art students worked together in all phases of the project, to design and paint the giant mural, Mrs. Hamby said.


Any businesses or organizations interested in commissioning DHS students to design and paint a mural next school year are invited to contact DHS Art teacher, Mrs. Nicole Hamby, via email at nicole.hamby@devineisd.org. 
DHS Student Artists on this mural are:
Hector Bernal
D’Angelo Cardenas
Jiselle Corral
Arabelle Davalos
Miranda Delgado
Diego Estrada
Antonio Gamboa
Jayden George
Jesse House
Miranda Jimenez
Carlos Mendez Peralta
Johanna Navarro
Isabell Nuncio
Anahi Ortigoza
Deisy Ramirez
Ashley Rivera
Jordan Roberts
Luciano Rodrigez
Joseyandel Saavedra
Valerie Salinas
Neveah Teniente
Serenity Whitaker

Narcotics bust…

Medina County K9 “Zira” led deputies to uncover four guns, meth, marijuana, and cash.

PRESS RELEASE by Medina County Sheriff’s Office–
Medina County deputies responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle near county Road 6712 and County Road 672 E on March 29, 2023. Upon arrival deputies made contact with two occupants Donald Sigler (DOB:01/06/1980) and Brittany Gomez (DOB: 1/13/1989).
After speaking with both occupants a K9 was requested. K9 handler J. Thomas and his partner, K9 Zira arrived at the location which led to the finding of 58 grams of methamphetamines. This information was later provided to Medina County Narcotics Unit.
Medina County Narcotics investigators began conducting a further investigation which led to a search of a residence in Natalia, Medina County Texas. As a result of the search, over one kilo of methamphetamines were located, over two pounds of marijuana, four firearms (one stolen) and cash that is believed to be proceeds from the sell of narcotics.

A Beautiful Day at Devine Market

Devine Market Association hosts an event on the first Saturday of the month by the Community Center in Devine.
Devine High School Robotics students gave youngsters an exciting demonstration of how their robots work at the Devine Market this past Saturday. It was one of the many awesome booths at the market this weekend where several local farmers, and artisians bring thier products to market in downtown Devine by the community center each month.
Happy Highland Homestead is a family business, and little Harley Rasar was there helping daddy sell their homegrown flower bouquets, fresh eggs, and lettuce. She’s also quite the entrepreneur making a line of her own freeze dried marshmellow candy.

Young mother hoping for second chance

Katrina Rodriguez, 21, and her son Brayden.

A young mother with failing health is hoping for a second chance, hoping that a living kidney donor comes through soon. You might have seen signs around town with her and her baby boy. Karina Garcia, 21 of Devine is the mother of a 3 year old, Brayden Guardiola. 
“I just want to be here for my baby, 100 percent,” Garcia said in an interview Monday.
She has had over a dozen signs printed, sharing her story, and has a few more to put out if anyone wants to display one.
“She’s a very strong person,” said her grandma Angelita Garcia. “Nothing gets her down. She keeps pushing forward. She is a kind person and she is so brave.”
Karina shared a little about her medical history, as doctors began noticing signs of kidney damage when she was just a teenager.
“At 19 I was diagnosed with lupus nephritis. I was stable with mild lupus flares and decent kidney function with my treatment plan,” Garcia said. “In January 2022 I got Covid which instantly took my kidney function down to 15%. Throughout the year I tried several medications from chemotherapy to newly approved medications. Every day was rough. I was in bed most of the year. I wasn’t able to eat. I dropped down to 80 lbs. Being sick for so long I developed vision and heart problems also.”
“By December 2022 my kidneys function went down to 4%. In March 2023, I began dialysis and am now looking for a kidney donor. A second chance,” Garcia said.
She also wishes to make everyone aware that “kidney disease can be silent,” Gracia said.
“People need to do regular checkups and be aware of that,” she added.
You can get tested to see if you can donate a kidney to Karina by going to livingdonor-methadistsa.com and typing in Karina Garcia Date of Birth 10/1/2001. If you would like to display a sign or are interested in being tested to see if you are a match, contact Karina at 210-527-0003.

Devine elects a new Mayor…
Cook wins by a landslide

Butch Cook won the mayor contest with a landslide vote.

The people have let their voices be heard again as Butch Cook victoriously won the City of Devine Mayor race by a landslide vote of 502 to 107, defeating the incumbent Cory Thompson.
It was the largest turnout for the city elections in quite some time. This year 609 residents came out to vote as the campaigns heated up, increasing the voter turnout to 140% compared to two years ago (436).
Butch Cook took the lead during early voting with 348 votes to Cory’s 74. On election day, Cook received 154 to Thompson’s 33.
Back in 2021, a total of 436 people voted in City Elections (with Cory Thompson narrowly defeating Kevin Hicks 229 to 207 in 2021).
“For the last two and a half months I have been knocking on doors, meeting as many people as I can. From past experiences on the Devine City Council I’m very aware that if there were simple solutions there wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m ready and eager for this new challenge! It is an incredible honor that the voters in our city are allowing me to do so,” said Butch Cook.
Cook’s campaign promises included:
-Make our city’s water system the top priority. -Aggressively pursue a City Administrator, and remove requirements that are hindering the process.
-Restore order and civility to the city meetings, and ensure all council members are informed on agenda issues in a timely manner.
-Show transparency and accountability -when and where taxpayer money is spent.
-Bring back the lines of communication between the city and the citizens that we are here to serve.
Cook brings his leadership skills to the office from his 7 years on the City Council, 5 years as President of Devine Little League, 7 years as President of South Texas Basketball Officials Association, 8 years as Men’s Basketball Coach at Palo Alto College, and 38 years as a Business Owner in Devine ( Image Matters and South Texas Trophies), and multiple days volunteering with organizations including Mission Devine, Chamber of Commerce, DYSA, and Devine ISD Committees.
A little history…
Thompson served as an Alderman for District 5 before being appointed the Mayor after Bill Herring resigned, and then winning the election two times, against Pichardo and then Hicks.
According to The Devine News files (July 19, 2019): District 5 Councilman Cory Thompson was appointed mayor during an emergency meeting of the Devine City Council held on Friday, July 19, following Bill Herring’s sudden resignation from the position.
After District 2 Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem Steve Lopez said he was not interested in taking over as mayor, District 3 Councilman David Espinosa nominated Thompson. Lopez provided the second, and the motion carried with the support of District 1 Councilman David Valdez and District 4 Councilwoman Jennifer Schott.
Then, council later appointed a resident of District 5 to fill Thompson’s seat on the Council. Debbie Randall was appointed in September 2019 as recommended by Thompson as someone who would vote like him for that district.
District 5
In the uncontested District 5 election Debbie Randall received 168 votes. (In 2021 that district election drew 201 voters, 128 for Randall and 73 for Kevin Stephens.)
All terms are two year terms. All of the May 2023 Election Results are considered unofficial results until they have been canvassed.
Problems at the polls…
Errors prevented at least 6 residents to vote in the District 2 race in City of Devine
In the District 2 race, unofficial tallies show Michael Hernandez receiving 47 votes to incumbent Angela Pichardo’s 42, a difference of five votes.
There were errors in District 2 voting cards reported in the first couple days of voting, as announced by the City of Devine last week, stating that six voters were not allowed to vote in the District 2 election. As a result, the District 2 election could be contested.
The City of Devine sent out a public notice as soon as the issue was discovered to let the public know that there were 201 voters whose residency was inaccurately listed. After the clerical error was discovered, the City found 6 voters that had been denied the right to vote in the District 2 race. From that point on, election judges were very careful to look over every voter card and make sure that people who live in District 2 were able to vote in the District 2 race by comparing addresses to the most recent redistricting maps.
Last week, Medina County Elections Administrator Lupe Torres explained that “As for how the incorrect precinct/districts were assigned, it was due to a clerical error made during the redistricting process.”
According to City of Devine Interim City Administrator Dora Rodriguez, if a candidate wants to protest this contest, the candidate will be responsible for filing a lawsuit.
“After contacting our Attorney Tom Cate and the attorney at the Secretary of State’s Office, I told both candidates when I called them to let them know about the election situation, and that whoever lost the election, they would have to file a lawsuit at their cost for the election protest.  The court would determine if the city needs to hold a special election.”
In response to the incident, Angela Pichardo stated, “We will seek remedies to investigate who’s Responsibility and negligent actions caused the errors. I do not want to create a separation in District 2 since we have worked so hard to unify the community as a whole, but if laws have been violated, we must make sure EVERYONE’S Right to Vote is Given and those responsible be Accountable. This is an example of the needed changes in City Government. I want to Thank all the citizens that came out to vote as we had a record number and I want to wish the New Leader of our City much Success and Progress for Devine….I want to make sure that voters were not cheated out of their right to vote.”
In this year’s election, Pichardo had a small lead after early voting with 38 to Hernandez 36. Election Day, Hernandez took the lead with 11 votes to her 4. Totals were Hernandez 36+11= 47, to Pichardo’s 38+ 4= 42.
Back in 2021, Pichardo was first elected to the position by defeating Maria Pena 32 to 18. Voter turnout almost doubled in this district this year.
All of the May 2023 Election Results are considered unofficial results until they have been canvassed.